Services set for Illinois Marine killed in blast

HIGHLAND – Services are scheduled in southwestern Illinois for one of seven Marines killed in an explosion during a training exercise in Nevada.

A funeral Mass for 26-year-old Cpl. Aaron Ripperda will be held April 3 at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Catholic Church in his hometown of Highland, east of St. Louis.

Ripperda was a 2005 graduate of Highland High School and enlisted in the Marines three years later. His father says his son expected to return home for good in May and attend Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.

Visitation for Ripperda is to be from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Meridith Funeral Home in Highland, then again there from 8 to 9:15 the morning of the funeral.

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